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UBC school life
By Giulietta Grassi (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada) So I have been in Vancouver for three months now, and I still can’t believe it! Three of the most amazing months of my life. It definitely has been an adjustment, living so far away from everyone you love, getting used to the time difference, and finding your way completely by yourself. However, the biggest thing I think I have had to adapt to is UBC’s academic and school structure. The workload here is really different compared to Manchester. I always assumed there wouldn’t be much difference between Canada and England, but there really is. I, and many of my other international friends…
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Returning to Manchester
By Sarah Winspear (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada) So I returned to the UK about a month ago following the most amazing year abroad. When I got accepted on the study abroad programme I didn’t expect it to be as good as it was. One of the bigger unexpected experiences was working at a camp over summer for people with disabilities in America. Study abroad opened up this opportunity for me as I had no summer plans and figured that since I was already in North America (Canada) that this would be a great way to prolong my time abroad while experiencing a different culture and broadening my perspectives.…
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I MADE IT TO VAN CITY
By Giulietta Grassi (University of British Columbia, Vancouver) After days of stressing, packing and saying goodbyes I have now finally made it to VANCOUUUUUVER! I’ve been here nearly 2 weeks now and have loved every moment of it. Let me try and somehow start from the beginning… I arrived in Vancouver completely jet-lagged and confused, and getting through immigration was only the start… but a few hours later I was in a hostel, surrounded by people from all over the world and in downtown Vancouver at the centre of it all. Vancouver is beautiful! It is the perfect mix of city life and outdoors. You walk 5 minutes down the road…
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Hopping Over the Border…
By Sophie Black (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada). The ease of accessing the west coast of the USA from Vancouver is ideal: in a few hours you can reach Seattle by car, and in under two hours you can touch down in San Francisco. Two cities too good to miss out on! (hover over each photo for more info/click on the first one to go though the gallery!) Seattle San Francisco Really hope my holiday (‘vacation’?) photo albums have tempted you to take a trip down into the USA! Sophie
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Bye, Bye BC!
By Sarah Winspear (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada). So here goes, my last blog post in Canada and what can I say it’s been amazing! Although for me this is not the end of my time abroad as the adventure will be continuing in the States with a bit of travelling and then working at an American summer camp which I can’t wait for. But it has meant the last few days have been pretty hectic as I only finished my exams yesterday and have a lot of stuff to sort out in the last few days before I can leave for the USA. Looking back this year has…
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The Curry Mile or UBC’s Main Mall? Academic Differences between Manchester and UBC
By Sophie Black (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada). So If I am honest, the four days I have had back at UBC following Christmas at home have been dominated by one emotion: stress! The modules I was originally registered on turned out to not be my kind of thing, so the task of trolling through pages of courses to try and find ones that fit into my timetable and aren’t already full is quite a challenge. It would be easier if there wasn’t so much choice! The ability many of us exchangers have in choosing modules from pretty much any subject is a fantastic opportunity to delve into new…
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University Life Canadian Style
By Sarah Winspear (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada). So I’m just about to start my second semester at UBC and thought this would be a good opportunity to reflect on the academic side of studying abroad. Teaching is quite different at UBC with the majority of my classes in first semester taking place in a classroom rather than a lecture theatre even though they are lectures. The classes seem to be smaller and for my courses there were no seminars or small group sessions only lectures, although this may just have been the courses I took. One of my classes did have a computer lab attached as this was…
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First week at UBC!
By Sophie Black (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada). Yes, I made it! I’ve been here for a week now and settled in pretty quickly. Moving to Canada suddenly hit me when I opened up the window on the plane and saw the Rockies in all their glory. Wow, they looked incredible! Even the pilot said there couldn’t be a better day to fly… Immigration was pretty quick and easy, plus both of my suitcases came off the plane (phew!). The easiest way to get from the airport to accommodation was by taxi (you could use the skytrain and busses yet a 13 hour+ trip means a very tired and…
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Beautiful BC
By Sarah Winspear (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada). I really don’t know where to start, so much has happened in the past week!! One thing that immediately struck me about Vancouver and the UBC campus is how beautiful the surroundings are. I still can’t believe I live so close to such vastly differing terrains with mountains, the ocean and a city centre so close by, and I love how green the area is, so many trees!!! So far this week I have been to the beach which is actually on campus and about a 10 minute walk from where I live. I thought I lived close to the coast…
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Preparing to leave for UBC…
By Sophie Black (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada). Since my final second year exam, time has absolutely flown by. With so many warnings about the expense of studying abroad, I have spent much of my time working to earn as much money as possible. Usually I’m pretty organised, yet with only a few days to go, I seem to have an ever-growing list of things to do! Keep in Contact I’m not ashamed to admit I am a homebird, hence the thought of spending so much time away from home is pretty scary. I do have a few relatives in Vancouver who I have been in contact with over…
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First night, first impressions, first blog!!
By Sarah Winspear (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada). I’m currently sat in a hostel in Vancouver waiting to meet up with people for breakfast before moving into residence later today so I thought what better time to write my first post about getting here and my first impressions. It seems like such a long time ago that I went to the study abroad notice board and found UBC next to my name and now I’m here, in Vancouver. I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet. The last couple of weeks I’ve just been waiting to get here. I was surprisingly calm and relaxed about the whole thing, I…
A study abroad journal by students, for students.
